A Terrible Loss For The SJU Community

And I am ashamed to say that I just heard about it.

Saint Joseph's University mourns the loss of Thomas D. Marzik, Ph.D. Marzik died Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007.

Marzik had taught in the Department of History at Saint Joseph's for the past 37 years. His specific areas of scholarship focused on Eastern European and Russian History. He had most recently been working on a book focused on Thomas Masaryk and the creation of Czechoslovakia.

Randall Miller, Ph.D., Professor of History, and Francis Graham Lee, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, spoke of their friend's wonderful sense of humor and meticulous nature as a teacher, scholar and advisor. Marzik always had a great interest in his students, according to Miller. Lee and Miller expressed how hard it was to capture Marzik in words as they reminisced on stories from the past.

"He was and is a much loved human being," said Miller.

The University released a statement regarding Marzik's death on Friday, Oct. 26.

University President Timothy R. Lannon, S.J., wrote, "The entire Saint Joseph's University community is deeply saddened by Dr. Marzik's passing. Please keep Dr. Marzik's family and friends in your thoughts and prayers." (H/T - The Hawk)

Dr. Marzik was far and away my favorite professor at Saint Joe's. Of course, he was a history professor, but he was so much more. A tremendous intellect combined with a dry biscuit sense of humor, Dr. Marzik always made sure his classes were entertaining. My friend Heather and I took his uber-challenging Russian History course during our senior year, when other folks were taking easy A's. The reason was Marzik.

My best memory of his Russian History class was also my most embarrassing moment. It was an early class, and I was exhausted from the night before. While Dr. Marzik was handing out graded exam papers, he asked me to pass one to the person behind me. I must have been nodding off beforehand, but said, "Yeah, sure." I passed the paper back, and he looked at me, smiled, and said, "Thank you. You may go back to sleep now."

I will miss him terribly.